Bilderberg 2012: protesters hail their hero, Alex Jones

As the demonstrations targeting the Bilderberg conference of international leaders in Chantilly, Virginia, drew to a close on Sunday, dozens of protesters gathered around one man, hoping for a picture or an autograph.

“Alex, what’s next?” one protester repeatedly yelled.

“God bless you, Alex,” said a number of others, as they stood outside a service entrance to a heavily guarded Marriott.

The object of their adoration was Alex Jones, an Austin, Texas-based radio host and counter-culture icon. A stout man with close-cropped hair, Jones was dressed in denim, his temples soaked with sweat.

Throughout the morning black sedans and SUVs would leave the property amid jeers from the crowd. The passengers, the demonstrators believed, were members of an international elite intent on establishing a “new world order”.

Police had confined the protesters to patches of grass on either side of the entrance, and at one point prevented anyone from crossing one side to the other. Then Jones arrived.